This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Down in the polls, Stephen Harper finds public affection abroad

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Middle East tour nets him the kind of adoration he wishes he could bring home.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper inspects an honour guard on his visit to Amman, Jordan, on Thursday. Harper thanked Jordan's king for being a reliable ally of Canada. (Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

JERUSALEM—It’s the kind of adulation that Stephen Harper wishes he could box up and bring home.

And how the praise poured in last week. From the Israeli capital, up to the country’s northern reaches, to seaside Tel Aviv, Harper was celebrated as a politician of courage and conviction.

A week in the Middle East, where charged history raises the potential for verbal missteps, would not naturally be seen as a destination for a politician to escape controversy. Yet for a prime minister down in the polls at home, a trip abroad proved a welcome tonic.

Harper and his Conservatives have been staunch backers of Israel since they took office in 2006. And on this, his first-ever trip to Israel, it was like the pent-up appreciation finally let loose, with a standing ovation in the Knesset, praise at Tel Aviv University, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate, and at the Western Wall, where he got a rock star welcome at the holiest of Jewish sites.

His Middle East travels also included a stop in the West Bank for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and time in Jordan, where he met with the monarch and went to Zaatari refugee camp, home to 100,000 Syrians who have fled the war in their homeland.

Article Continued Below

Along the way, Harper’s announcements and comments — notably his speech to the Israeli parliament — provided fresh insight into the Conservative government’s perspectives on the Middle East and how it intends to engage in the region.

Underpinning it all is Ottawa’s ardent backing of Israel, a nation he champions for being a democracy, one with values and culture in common with Canada, in a part of the world where the “forces of progress (are) often anemically weak.”

“Israel represents values which our government takes as articles of faith and principles to drive our national life,” Harper told the Knesset.

He reflected, briefly, on Canada’s wishes for the region, a “democratic Palestinian state committed to living peacefully alongside the Jewish state of Israel.”

But as for any suggestions how to get there, Harper was silent. Where other leaders have used Israel visits to speak on the contentious elements of the peace process, Harper steered clear, notably on Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, despite Canada’s position they are not legal. Harper would later say he was not there to “single out Israel for criticism.”

No, his Israel visit was all about making a strong public affirmation of Canada’s support, which drew praise not just from Israelis but also from those among the 208 people who were part of the Canadian delegation travelling with the prime minister.

Yoseph Zaltzman, senior rabbi and founder of the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario, cheered Harper’s “unconditional” and “logical” support.

“He explains it. . . . He gives enough ammunition to the entire world to stand for the same principle,” Zaltzman said.

Indeed, Harper’s strong words even raised hopes that Canada’s official stance on the settlements may change.

“I think it’s a wonderful reflection that we have a prime minister who is able to stand with fortitude against many of the world powers and to say to Israel ‘you are not alone, you are not isolated,’ ” said Frank Dimant, CEO of B’Nai Brith Canada.

“I think Canada will support Israel in not uprooting the settlements. That is my opinion and certainly it is the opinion of the Canadian Jewry to a great extent,” Dimant told reporters.

But in a piece titled “The Baffling Politics of Stephen Harper and Israel” on the Al-Jazeera website, former Canadian diplomat John Bell said that Ottawa was giving Israel a “free ride.”

“A world of greys does not suit Mr. Harper as much as a landscape where one side is decidedly right, and the other decidedly wrong,” Bell wrote.

“Despite the clever legerdemain, the spin, and the stated official positions, Palestinians come a distant second in Mr. Harper’s calculations,” he wrote.

Israeli media outlet Haaretz said that Harper’s speech would be remembered “mostly for the things he did not say and for the truths he chose to sweep under the carpet. This is not how a true friend behaves.”

Not surprisingly, reaction among Palestinians to the speech was “very negative,” said Abdullah Abdullah, deputy commissioner for international relations in the Fatah movement now led by Abbas.

“For Harper to come and support Israel, rightly or wrongly, blindly, that way I don’t think it is helping Israel. Nor will it help Canada,” he told the Star in a telephone interview after Harper’s speech.

While Harper told reporters that he had privately voiced concern with Israel about the settlements, Abdullah questioned why the prime minister refused to say anything publicly on the topic, despite questions from the media.

“Why in private? Every country in the world . . . all are strong in opposition to the settlements because they are the obstacles to peacemaking in the region,” said Abdullah, chairman of the political committee of the Palestinian parliament.

“We’re not questioning, we’re not even commenting on his strong ties with Israel. But there is a difference between Israel, protecting Israel, defending Israel and defending their own (Canadian) policies on Israel. There’s a big difference,” Abdullah said.

With U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders on a peace initiative, Harper’s comments in Israel could actually be “counterproductive,” said Bessma Momani, associate professor at the University of Waterloo Balsillie School of International Affairs.

“He’s really emboldened the most right-wing elements of the Israeli political spectrum and those are the exact ones I think are against the Kerry mission,” she said in a telephone interview.

And she questioned whether Harper’s comments truly reflected official Canada’s official stance on the sensitive issues at the core of the conflict.

“He doesn’t represent his personal view. He represents Canadian views. I don’t think they were in keeping with Canadian views. In many respects, it’s definitely in contrast to official Canadian policy,” she said.

Harper’s encouraging words about Israel stood in stark contrast to his bleak assessment of the state of many other parts of the Middle East.

“The brutal reality of the world is that we do not control the actions of others. Sometimes the actions of others impose realities upon people that we have to deal with,” Harper said Friday at the refugee camp.

“Given our limited ability to affect the course of the conflict, the best we can do and really all Canada is doing in terms of our aid . . . we are supporting help for people and that’s what we will continue to do,” he said.

He was speaking about the war in Syria, where the sectarian nature of the conflict and brutality by both government forces and rebels has made it tough for Canada to pick a side.

But the statement could just as easily apply to the crises caused by Egypt’s halting democracy, Iran’s “violent and hateful” regime, two other trouble spots cited by Harper during his week’s travels.

And so at stops in the West Bank and Jordan, Harper opened Ottawa’s wallet. Meeting with Abbas, he pledged $66 million for economic aid, security and humanitarian assistance. The Conservatives had vocally opposed the Palestinian Authority’s bid for statehood at the United Nations, a move bitterly remembered among Palestinians. The relationship remains on the rebound, which was obvious in the diplomatic, polite but decidedly cool interaction between Abbas and Harper. But with Abbas expressing hope for better relations ahead, the worst appears to behind.

In Jordan, the prime minister committed more than $250 million, largely to help the nation cope with the fallout of the Syrian conflict, notably an influx of more than 500,000 refugees fleeing the violence.

On Thursday, Harper and Jordanian King Abdullah II sat down to lunch, each accompanied by a small number of delegates, at a long table set for lunch in a high-ceilinged dining room in the Al-Hummar palace.

The prime minister expressed his appreciation to Jordan for being a reliable ally. The monarch thanked Harper for Canada’s support in facing the region’s troubles.

“I know as brothers we will be able to move forward and overcome these challenges,” he said.

A little brotherly affection. An apt metaphor to close out the week’s trip.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com